What of Effervescence?

Durkheim in the Cathedral

in Durkheimian Studies
Author:
Simon Coleman University of Toronto

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/ds.2017.230105
Keywords:
cathedrals; civil religion; effervescence; ritual; urban religion
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Abstract

In this article I explore the continued salience of Durkheimian effervescence through an examination of ritual activities contained within contemporary English cathedrals. My argument focuses less on collective occasions of creative or destructive tumult and more on ritualised forms of action where modalities of engagement and participation are nuanced, reflexively negotiated and small-scale. My aim is to render more subtle – and potentially productive – our understandings of gradations in ritual intensity.

Contributor Notes

Simon Coleman is Chancellor Jackman Professor at the Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto. He is currently president of the Society for the Anthropology of Religion, co-editor of the journal Religion and Society, and co-editor of the book series Routledge Studies in Pilgrimage, Religious Travel and Tourism. Research interests include Pentecostalism, pilgrimage, cathedrals, and the interface between religion and urbanisation. Simon has carried out fieldwork in Sweden, the United Kingdom and Nigeria, and his latest book is Pilgrimage and Political Economy: Translating the Sacred (2018, co-edited with John Eade).

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Durkheimian Studies

Études Durkheimiennes

Cover Durkheimian Studies
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
19
Keywords:
cathedrals; civil religion; effervescence; ritual; urban religion
Print Publication Date:
01 Dec 2017
Online Publication Date:
01 Dec 2017
Copyright:
© Durkheim Press 2017

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